It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. I am going to go out on a limb here today and share some insider secrets about the real estate industry on the internet.
- About agent photos – It isn't unusual to meet an agent who is 40 years older than he or she appears to be in a profile photo. Contrary to popular belief we don't use our high school year book photo, our jobs are so brutal that we age quickly.
- About property photos – There are exactly three good exterior property photos. All three of them are used on agent web sites nation wide. Minnesota agents are strongly encouraged to choose the photo without the palm trees and swimming pool but I have found some who use them anyway. It takes a special kind of person to have that kind of confidence.
- MLS Photos – All MLS photos are taken with the same camera. Any photo taken with that camera comes out bad. Here in Minnesota we have a feature built into our MLS so that if a good photo does somehow makes it's way to the MLS it will be automatically enhanced to look like an MLS photo. Maybe this is no secret but I will bet you didn't know that we stole the technology from the DMV and they want it back.
- Testimonials – Have you ever seen the glowing testimonials on agent web sites? Sadly there is one set of testimonials that all agents use. They are free on the internet and we are encouraged to change the names of the make believe clients that were so happy with the job we did. We are also strongly encouraged to change the name of the agent in the testimonial but some agents don't take the time.
- Agent web sites - Real estate agent web sites are among the ugliest sites on the internet. The technology used to make these sites is such a closely guarded secret that they won't even share it with me. If you use the internet often you will notice that no one outside of the real estate industry has been able to replicate the real estate web site.
I was going to add the secrets about what an agent really does in your home during an open house but that is going a bit too far.
Have a great weekend. Lets hope that the tornadoes and monsoons are over for now.
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Thank you for cracking me up today! It’s a tough job, but you did it with aplomb…
I always look forward to your next post…
So funny, but so true. I especially can’t get over the fact that so many agents are happy to market a property with dark, bad angle photos. Is it really that hard to take 10 to 15 well lit, visually appealing photos? I guess so. Thanks for the post.
It’s nice to read a blog post that promotes the fun side of real estate. Thanks for your great blog and all you do.
Big Funny! I was browsing through and caught this. I guess to be honest you are right on. Great photos too.
We have several agents in my office still using photos from the 70′s. I’ve asked them about it and they are fiercely adverse to updating to new photos.
I don’t like updating my photo either that is why I mostly don’t use one.
Bob – happy that I made you smile.
Dean _ I wouldn’t say fun, more like weird.
Marci – agents like to take their own photos. I think the sellers should look at the photos and take action or at least take an interest.